My husband's Illinois state tax return says line 21 Military pay should be blank but he is active duty army so he's been paid by the military what is the problem?

[JotikaT2]

His income may be exempt from taxation in Illinois.  See the attached link to see if his income qualifies for this exemption.

Illinois military pay exempt from taxation

[kerriez]

Having the same issue with our tax return. Looks the same as last year but won't let me file. Husband is active duty. Seems like there is a glitch in Turbo Tax.

[DMarkM1]

First go back to "My Info" and edit your military spouse's data to verify IL has been selected as the resident state and he didn't live in any other state.  The same should be true for you (assuming you wish to claim the same resident state as your military spouse to take advantage of the Military Spouse Relief Act).  Here is a link to the IL tax publication for military families.  

Next go to the "Income & Expenses" tab and edit the military W2 to be sure the follow on questions have indicated "Active Duty Military Pay."

Finally, go back and edit the IL return and be sure full year resident for IL is selected and the military pay is excluded.  It should self-populate once you have completed the steps above.  

[btmnron]

I am having the same problem and have tried all of the steps but I still get that error when I try to efile.

[DaveF1006]

If it gives you the option to remove it in the review section, do so. The way this is is suppose to work is that military pay is not taxable in Illinois.  Schedule M will show the income on line 21 but then subtracts it out. Before you remove it from the review section though, review your answers in the Illinois state return. Navigate to the section where it says military pay exclusion.  Be sure the exact amount of his military pay is listed in that box. 

[btmnron]

When I get to the review and remove it it says I owe taxes afterwards.  I have checked active duty military pay in both the w-2 section and in the illinois return section but the Illinois return says it has to be a active duty military member which I am.  I compared it to my 2018 return and it is the same way.  I am not sure why it is doing it this year.  I was also previously able to file it but the return got rejected due to missing an I.D. requirement so it did work previously.

[btmnron]

I found the issue in transmitting my tax returns and that was verifying all of my Personal info not just the section for the W-2.  I clicked no for active duty military and then went back to click yes and answered all of those questions pertaining to if I was deployed, when I deployed and how long I was active duty in 2019  Once that happened, my state return was able to be re-transmitted.

[kdrongey]

I had the exact same issue. Nothing that was recommended above helped, but the recommendation to go back through and just click through all of the personal info is what got it done. I didnt even make any changes to anything, but for some reasons thats what worked. It seems like its just a glitch in the software.

[LDH1015]

My husband was active duty in 2020, and retired 1 October.  So I answer "yes" that he was active duty but then the next screen asks for his status on 12/31/20, which was "retired."  So it automatically changes the previous screen back to "no" that he was not active duty in 2020.  What am I supposed to do?

[DanielV01]

Enter the information accurately according to the circumstances.  If on 12/31/2020 he was no longer active-duty, then you will state that he was retired from active duty.  All that is is a recognition that his active-duty status did not last the full calendar year.  But that won't affect income that should still be excluded from Illinois tax.  Review the W-2 income and make sure that after completing the form, on the following screen Do any of these uncommon situations apply to you?, that the active duty income box is checked.  This should exempt the income from Illinois.

[Rubemeyer]

Has anyone solved this? It's now many years since originally posted and I'm currently having the same issue. We can't all be wrong here, right? TurboTax must have some kind of error that's not letting me e-file despite doing it all right. Can't help but think it's to get us to pay or their live support....

[DMarkM1]

Typically, this experience is resolved by returning the to "My Info" section and "Edit" the military spouse's info.  Actually click "No" and then "Yes" for the "Military" question.  Go through the "Military" questions there again.  Click another option for each and then click back to the original "correct" answer for each.  Be sure to click "Continue" when done to trigger the updated answers.

@Rubemeyer